The present invention relates to a novel and useful fluorescent lighting system which precludes the use of incandescent lamps.
Tamper proof fuses and adaptors have been employed in the past to prevent insertion of a coin, such as a one-cent piece, to override the necessity of a fuse. Such devices have never been employed in the lighting field.
The standard incandescent light bulb utilizes a screw-in base, which is referred to in the art as an "Edison" base. The Edison base normally threadingly engages a conventional Edison light bulb socket found in lighting fixtures everywhere. It has long been realized that fluorescent lighting lamps are far and away more efficient than incandescent lamps.
Recent advances in fluorescent lamp production have produced PL lamps which include 2 or 4 envelopes. The lighting levels measured from such PL lamps corresponds to the lighting levels produced by commonly used incandescent lamps.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,096 which describes fluorescent lighting fixture which is able to be screwed-in to a standard Edison light socket and, thus, substitute for the incandescent light bulb.
Although such fluorescent lamp units provide lighting at a vastly reduced costs. It should be noted that the PL fluorescent lamp possesses a lamp life of 10 times that of a normal incandescent light bulb. However, each fluorescent unit is initially more expensive than incandescent lamp bulbs and is subject to pilferage and replacement by an incandescent light bulb when the fluorescent unit is removed or expended.
Reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,974 that includes a locking mechanism to hold a fluorescent lamp adaptor in a standard socket. Although successful in preventing pilferage, a person possessing the proper tool may still remove the unit and replace the same with an incandescent lamp which is undesirable when energy savings are an overall requirement.
A system which would permit the use of a fluorescent lamp in any standard Edison lamp socket, yet permanently preclude the use of incandescent lamp would be a notable advance in the field of energy conservation.